After Effects
by sififantasygirl
Summary: So, something I wrote up and meant to upload for ages. It's basically about Matt a while after he comes back from being tortured. Lots of angst and h/c. Written with no pairings in mind, but can be added. T for teen book, no little kids!
1. Chapter 1

Hey everybody! A couple of notes....This story takes place two years after Necropolis, and runs _kinda _parallel to my other story, which you _do not _want to read. Trust me, I reread it, and it's _horrible._ Anyways, what basically happens in the other story is that Jamie reads Matt's mind. Also, this is the modern Gatekeepers, not the other one with Sapling and Flint, but with Scott and Jamie. Does that make any sense? Oh well, just read the story, I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually.....

* * *

Matt held his head in his hands. He'd just awoke from yet another nightmare; one he had already dreamt before, but had no desire to repeat. Matt was sixteen now, and had seen more than anybody in the camp, even more than the rest of the five, and he was tired. He was _very_ tired.

"Matt?" He lifted his head into the gaze of a slightly worried, slightly embarrassed Jamie. "Are, um, are you ok?"

Matt nodded. "I'm fine."

Slowly, Jamie nodded back. "Well, they're going to start the meeting in a bout five minutes."

"I'll be there." Matt waited until Jamie had left, the stood up. There was no need to change, nowadays, everybody just slept in their clothes. It was easier in case there was an emergency, and goodness knows there were quite a few of those.

Running his fingers through his hair, he made his was over to the largest tent where they had unofficially placed all their meetings. Matt hid a smile when he saw Pedro waiting outside. It seemed that he'd not been the only one waken from sleep. Pedro looked like he's just rolled out of bed and stumbled on over. 'Then again,' he mused. 'That's exactly what I did.'

"Hey," he said. Pedro started, then he saw it was Matt and relaxed.

"Oh, it's you." Pedro had finally got the hang of English, after about a year and a half, although his accent was still pronounced. He yawned.

"Late night?" Matt asked sympathetically.

"I just woke up a minute ago. What about you?"

Matt shrugged. "Just woke up myself. Nightmare."

Pedro looked at him and started to say something else, but at that moment, Scar poked her head around the tent flap.

"Guys, we're waiting for you two."

Matt exchanged a glance with Pedro, and then slipped inside.

* * *

"The Old Ones are gathering on the Eastern Plains," Scott said without preamble. He pointed to the map. "If we come around to the Proclivia Slope, and if we have the element of surprise, then we might be take them down."

"We'll never be able to move our forces in time," Scar objected. "What about the old, and the children? We can't leave them here. The enemy has laid false trails before. How do we know this isn't one of them? We should wait until they come to us."

"That could take months, or years," Jamie piped up. "We should take them by surprise, or at the very least move our camp. We've been here for two months. We need to have the upper hand and we're doing nothing by sitting here."

"But until we can guarantee the enemy being there, I say we wait. This could just be another trap, like last time…." Scar glanced at Matt, who conveniently chose that time to be studying his hands. He remembered the last time all too clearly.

Scott cleared his throat. "But as that may be, we need this chance. We need to decide _now, _before their armies shift again. Who knows how long they will stay there?"

"Then maybe-"

"I say-"

"Perhaps-"

"We stay." It was the first time Matt had spoken that day, and they all fell silent. "We stay. It's too risky otherwise. See here," he pointed to the map. "If we decide to try and surprise the enemy, they could hide in the Silvae Forest. It's positioned that you can see all that's happening on one side without being able to see on the inside. Or here, by the lake, there's a million hiding spots. And," he showed them where nothing was on the map. "There are caves right there. I would know. But I do agree that we need to move our camp. We're getting too cozy here."

Matt looked up and was relieved to see Scar, Jamie, Pedro, and even Scott nodding.

"Then where do we go?" Pedro asked. They looked at him, a little surprised, as he'd been literally falling asleep at one point.

"Here," Scott pointed to a forest a good day's hike away. "It's far, but not too far for the children and grandparents."

Matt nodded. "I'm fine with that. Any objections? Jamie? Pedro? Scar?"

One by one, they nodded, showing their acceptance, if not approval.

"Good, we'll leave in the morning, as soon as everyone's packed." Scott stood up and left, looking slightly more satisfied. Jamie hesitated, then turned to Matt.

"Come with me for a second." He led the way through the camp, then to the forest on the left and disappeared into it, Matt following carefully behind him. Finally, he stopped and faced him.

"I'm worried about Scott. There are so many emotions in him, some days. I'm afraid he's going to explode or something. And he never confides in anyone. Plus, I don't think he ever recovered from the torture-" Jamie faded, remembering who he was talking to.

Matt nodded. "That's understandable. Torture does that to a person-" he flinched when Jamie placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping abruptly.

"Hey….Matt…are you sure you're ok?"

Matt avoided his eyes. "I'll live."

Jamie shifted awkwardly. "I read your mind." He blurted out.

"WHAT?! When?"

"Almost two years ago. When we were looking for Scar and we were in the cab and passing by your old home." Jamie was rambling aimlessly.

Matt leaned against a tree for support. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Jamie shook his head. "I didn't want you to know. I thought you would judge me…"

"But still," Matt said angrily. "Two _years_, Jamie. Two freaking years. You had almost seven hundred other days you could've told me."

"I'm sorry, alright?" Jamie pushed himself to his feet. "It was a long time ago, and I was stupid, and naïve. Look, just forget it, ok?"

With those words, he was gone.

* * *

Hey again! Glad to see you read it! That makes me very happy... So I have the other half of the story, I just need to type it out, which I might do today. You see, I write all my FF stories down in a little black lifebook/journal, and if I think they're good enough, then they end up on Fanfic.

So what did you think of the story? Of my writing? Any spelling/grammer errors? Please let me know!!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey! So a thanks to all my readers, and a special thanks to MadCatta and leetvfan for reviewing!! I love reviews, they so make my day(hint hint). Anyways, this is the second part of the story....so yah! Enjoy!

* * *

Matt stayed where he was. He couldn't believe Jamie had kept this from him for two years. It wasn't as if reading someone's mind was a small thing. There were thoughts and memories in his head that he didn't want _anyone_ to see or know about. Ever. Thoughts were silent for a reason.

Hours later, Scar found him leaning again a tree, still deep in thought.

"Matt?" She asked softly.

He jumped. "Scar!" He closed his eyes and let out a breath. "Don't, don't do that."

"I'm sorry." Scar said, laying a hand on his arm. "I…forgot."

Gently, Matt shrugged it off. Scar leaned against the tree across from him.

"Are you alright? Pedro told me what happened after wrestling it out of Jamie. Apparently, being the healer and all, he thought some company might be good."

Matt grunted.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"I don't know. A part of me is angry that he never told me before, and another part of me is glad that he didn't read my mind later than that. What if it had been a year after that?"

He half grinned at Scar, and she frowned. "Will you be ok?"

"Yeah," Matt interrupted. There was an awkward silence as she looked unbelievingly at him.

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

Scar nodded. "Uh huh. Like you were "fine" a week after we found you."

He winced. "That was low."

"It was also true!" She snapped.

"Why do all conversations somehow lead back to the torture?" Matt scowled angrily.

Scar flinched and closed her eyes. "Matt…please…"

"Please _what_?! Don't say torture?" He was almost shouting. "I don't know why the word bothers you so much. I was the one who went through it!"

"Matt, _stop_! I spent thirteen months thinking you were dead. Don't you tell me that wasn't hard!"

"I spent thirteen months wishing I _was_ dead! You have no idea. No one has any idea." His voice cracked.

"Scott's the only one who's been captured, and they only had him for a month. You absolutely no idea what they did."

There was silence, broken only by Matt's heavy breathing as he tried unsuccessfully to control himself again. By the time he'd stopped seeing flashbacks, Scar had left.

Instead, Pedro stood a few feet away, watching him silently.

"Hey," Pedro said, and Matt nodded in acknowledgment. "Hare you alright?"

"Fine. How long have you been standing there?"

"About ten minutes ago," Pedro answered evenly. Matt looked down, ashamed, but Pedro grasped his upper arm. "Hey, it's ok."

"No, no it's not. If had been someone else, like the twins-"

"Don't _worry_ about what they think. You've been through so much more than either of them. Then anyone I've ever met."

There was a short silence.

"It's taking its toll on me." Matt admitted. "Every time I close my eyes, I can hear the screams again, and I see, I…."

Pedro gripped him even harder. "You are _not_ weak." He shook Matt, but tried to be gentle at the same time. "You hear me? you are the strongest person I know, and don't even think for a second otherwise."

Matt pulled his arm away. "It's just, that, I can't stop hearing things, and, and seeing things. They're everywhere, no matter how hard I try not to look, or to try to see something different. I can't rest, I can't sleep; I can't even sit down without it _happening_. Am I going crazy-"

"Matt. You aren't alone. Think about it. Please." Matt made no reply, so Pedro continued. "When we first rescued you, no one wanted to leave you. I practically had to drag them out of the room so I could heal you in peace."

Matt raised an eyebrow, but Pedro thought he saw the corner of his mouth lift slightly.

"Stubborn dimwits," Matt said. Pedro looked at him with an eyebrow cocked.

"They all get it from someone else."

This time, he could clearly see Matt smile. "I guess."

"Oh, I am not guessing. I absolutely know so."

There was a comfortable silence.

"Somehow, I just can't see Scott needing to be shooed away," Matt said, but Pedro objected right away.

"Actually, he was more worried about you than even Scar."

Matt looked at him quizzically. "Is that so…"

Pedro nodded. "I literally had to force him our of the tent. It was probably because he knew, at least, to a small degree, what they did to you."

Matt nodded, but Pedro wasn't nearly finished.

"Jamie's worried about you too. When he was talking to you about Scott, well, he actually meant you. And then there's Scar as well. She was devastated when you were captured, but she never gave up. She would keep saying things like, "When Matt comes back." Drove us all insane."

Matt ran a hand threw his hair. He could easily imagine them as Pedro described them, fitting each different personality. He vaguely wondered what Pedro did, but pushed the thought to the back of his mind. Pedro leaned on a tree across from him, studying him carefully.

"Kind of stupid that after six months, we're only _just_ talking about it."

"Well, I don't know if I could've handled it earlier," Matt said. "Heck, I don't know if I can handle it now. It's just so, so raw, you know?"

Pedro nodded, and they settled in a peaceful silence. After a bit, Matt shook his head.

"We should probably get back to camp."

Pedro nodded again, and quietly led the way back, where a relieved Scott, a concerned Jamie, and an anxious Scar, who scolded them for taking so long, greeted them. None the less, Matt personally felt it had been worth it when, for the first time in over a year, he didn't have nightmares.

FIN

* * *

*cough cough* So, as you probably noticed, I didn't exactly post this on the same day...or week....or month.....but at least it wasn't a year!! I mean, it could've been alot worse, right? RIGHT?? (Anyways, I don't like the second part as much as the first part, which is also why I procrastinated in putting this up.)

So how did _you _like this? After all, I am writing this for people to enjoy, and helpful criticism is, well, helpful, obviously.

So thanxs for reading all the way! Now I am begging you to REVIEW!!!!!

Til next time,  
~sififantasygirl


End file.
